After two years under construction, city leaders cut the ribbon today on Alexandria City High School’s new Minnie Howard Campus.
The $190 million project for the 343,000-square-foot, five-story satellite campus can hold up to 1,600 students — double the capacity of its 1950’s-era predecessor. The building will be home to six career and technical education academies, which administrators say will allow students to pursue their interests.
Staff raises and market rate adjustments are a few of the proposed highlights after Alexandria City Public Schools got the green light last week by City Council to add $273.03 million to its combined funds budget.
The $14.3 million increase over the current ACPS budget comes at considerable cost to the taxpayer, as last week City Council approved a 2.5-cent tax increase to pay for it and other city services.
Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) is the biggest winner of a 2.5 cent tax rate increase being considered by City Council, but it still falls short of the budget voted on by the School Board.
The School Board voted earlier this year to request $384.4 million from the City Council — $21 million more than previous budgets and double the budget proposed by Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt. Mayor Justin Wilson previously said that fulfilling that budget request would require an unprecedented 6-cent tax increase.
Alexandria School Board Member Tim Beaty just won his special election in January, and now he tells us that he’s running for reelection in November.
Beaty won a special election on Jan. 9 to fill the District A seat vacated by former School Board Member Willie Bailey. He was sworn in days later, and said he would spend the next several months learning the intricacies of Alexandria City Public Schools before deciding on whether to run for reelection on Nov. 5.
A four-year-old student with autism walked away from Jefferson-Houston Elementary School in Old Town last month and was found barefoot in the middle the street by a school bus driver near the King Street Metro station.
A number of school officials were consequently placed on administrative leave by Alexandria City Public Schools Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt.
Alexandria City Council candidate Abdel Elnoubi has been making legislative waves recently as a member of the School Board, and says residents should expect the same kind of results if he gets elected.
Elnoubi is one of 11 Democrats running to fill six seats on City Council, including four incumbent Council members running for reelection in the Democratic primary on June 18. The field also includes Jacinta Greene, a fellow School Board Member.
The Alexandria School Board unanimously approved a collective bargaining resolution Thursday night, setting the ground rules for how the school system will negotiate with staff on wages and benefits.
Dawn Lucas, president of the Education Association of Alexandria, was pleased with a number of changes that she recommended the Board make to the proposed resolution.
Alexandria City High School English teacher Eva Irwin was at a loss for words when her name was called and the packed gymnasium erupted in applause.
This afternoon at a school assembly, Irwin was recognized as a top-tier teacher and surprised with the $25,000 Milken Educator Award.
The final touches are being made to Alexandria City High School’s expansion of its Minnie Howard Campus.
The five-story, $174 million high school project is on-budget and on-track for “substantial completion this spring,” according to an Alexandria City Public School staff report that will be presented to the School Board on Thursday.
The Alexandria School Board made significant changes to its proposed collective bargaining agreement resolution with staff on Thursday night.
In a work session that ran until nearly midnight, the Board amended the 17-page draft resolution, which sets the rules for negotiations on a three-year agreement. The draft resolution reveals a slow rollout for the Alexandria City Public Schools bargaining process that will only reach full fruition in future negotiations, with the school system currently focusing on reaching an eventual collective bargaining agreement on six yet-to-be-determined topics with a portion of employees.
Alexandria School Board Members went all-in Wednesday night in asking City Council to fund its budget by approving a massive tax increase.
Mayor Justin Wilson told the Board at a budget work session on Wednesday night that its fiscal year 2025 $384.4 million combined funds budget request would result in a historic tax increase. The Board, in turn, said that the funding could stem the school system’s staffing crisis.
